Save pages for offline reading

Article By: Hadlee Simons

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The internet is a gigantic place beyond our comprehension, so you'll always find something worth a read while browsing.

What often tends to happen though, is that we find so many articles and snippets that we simply can't read them all. Or you're stuck on the plane and can't make use of your browser.

Luckily for us, there are plenty of applications and services that let you save your articles for later.

Pocket

We've covered this nifty app, formerly known as Read-It-Later, in a previous apps feature, but it's a great application anyway.

Pocket, in its official and unofficial variants, lets you save articles on your Android, Apple, Windows Mobile, Symbian and WebOS devices.

To use the service on your PC, sign up for it at getpocket.com and then drag the "+pocket" button to your bookmarks bar (found below the web address field). Then, whenever you see an article you'd like to read later, simply click the "+pocket" bookmark while you're on the desired webpage.

To get Pocket on your mobile, download the version for your device, enter your login information and then any pages should be synced.

However, if you'd like to save pages from your mobile, things get a bit more complicated.

Android users can simply select "share page" from their browser and then "add to Pocket" to save the webpage. iPhone and iPad users have a much more convoluted process to go through, unfortunately.

Alternatively, there are scores of iPhone applications that make use of Pocket functionality, so you don't need to go through all of this. But the Pocket guys have compiled a nifty video tutorial anyway.

Instapaper

The other great option, and my preferred service, is Instapaper, available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone (unofficially).

The services have a lot in common, but the biggest distinction is Instapaper's curated reading list. Accessible within the official applications, the Instapaper team scours the web for great articles, gathering them in a cool reading list.

The other difference is that you'll have to cough up some cash for the official versions, currently available on iOS and Android. Alternatively, there are third-party clients which are available free of charge.

To make use of Instapaper on your PC, register for the service at www.instapaper.com and then drag the "read later" button to the bookmarks bar. You'll then be able to save articles by simply clicking the "read later" bookmark.

Saving articles on your mobile device is a pretty painless procedure thanks to the inclusion of a built-in browser - especially for iOS users.

Much like Pocket, Instapaper is integrated into a slew of iOS and Android applications, a particularly useful tool when in news readers and other reading apps.

Instapaper also features support for e-readers, letting you download your articles in ePub and Kindle formats.

Readability

Another popular pick and arguably the most visually pleasing service, Readability's trump card is its text formatting, stripping advertisements and other distractions to create a beautifully simple layout.

Available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone (unofficially), Readability is available as a desktop browser extension too.

Once again, you'll need to register at www.readability.com to make use of the service first, but once you've got that out of the way, you can add articles for offline reading.

Much like Instapaper, Readability boasts some Kindle support as well, letting you send articles to your e-reader.